The Shadow of a Dream
by eyesflame
Summary: To bring Arthur down and become only heir to the throne Morgana takes another step with her plans...she enchants him to see his worst nightmare... but something doesn't go as planned...


Morgana smirked. Of course it was one of many various times she did that but it just made her feel good. Powerful. It made her feel like she was the one in control and not the others. And nobody knew why she smirked.

Morgana entered the chamber as quiet as possible. Her long robe rolled over the cold floor beneath her and created a silent sound. Hardly loud enough to wake the one who slept in this chamber.

Arthur always had been a good sleeper, as long as he didn't hear the sound of a sword rising he would keep sleeping like an idiot.

Morgana felt like smirking again. Arthur would never notice what she planned to do and in the morning he would just felt exhausted and sad and probably a bit broken.  
>That's what nightmares do. Who could know better than Morgana?<p>

Merlin was busy away and she had all the time she needed to complete her evil plan. She needed to know what would kill, not physically but mentally, kill the prince's soul. Maybe then Arthur would give up the throne and then she would be the heir of the crown.

Morgana was tired of all those hide-and-seek games all those pretending that she was only an ordinary Lady, innocent and loved from court. But most of all she was tired to pretend that she was powerless. How long was she determined to live under Uther Pendragon, her father, who killed everyone with magic in this rotten realm! Only the thought of him made Morgana's bones turn to fire until the hate overruled her mind. How many times she had to suffer under his hands!

Morgana had reached the huge bed of the great prince by now. She looked down on his peaceful face and just felt bitterness where she earlier felt a sense of harmonic feelings, maybe faith, maybe even a spark of love.

Morgana leaned forward a little more to consider the situation attentively. Actually it was pretty easy. He was her brother and she wanted to cause him pain.

Morgana lifted her head so that her long black strands of hair moved in the darkness that came through the window. Only the moon sent a silver light into the chamber.

She focused Arthur with a contemptuous look on her face. Maybe it was not right to say that she wanted to hurt him, because that wasn't the actual reason. Maybe she should better say that she wanted to have a little inside look to his most secret fears. Of course the pain was something he had to deal with.

Morgana knew she was ready. Somewhere deep in her the excitement of what she might get to see grew. She was so near to the power that it almost hurt.

Now she grinned. It was not that evil smirk she used to make her feel powerful, there was no need for this. Morgana was powerful at that moment.  
>Instead she had that smile on her face that consumed everyone who was longing for power and who felt like their time was near.<p>

It was the smile of a fanatic before everything changed.

When Morgana turned to put this spell on Arthur the curtain moved for a moment and the glowing moonshine made it seem like burned.

Arthur suddenly took a deep exhausted breath as if a sword just killed him. And exactly Morgana just threw a mental sword through his heart with all the magic she could probably bear.

Arthur moved from one side to another and began to breathe faster and more heavily. Morgana noticed that his forehead was sweating.  
>She just stood there with this smile and still and oppressively calm.<p>

She was waiting for something.

After a moment this something came.

Above Arthur, just over his head a cloud appeared. It was not a cloud one would see in the sky, nor a cloud that would make you feel comfortable in any way. It was the exact opposite. The cloud was dark. Actually it was not even viewable. It was more like one could feel this cloud and the darkness of it.

Morgana's smile just grew. Soon she would know. Maybe she would see her brother's greatest enemy, one she could unite with, or a monster she could reproduce in an illusion or maybe use an elixir...

Morgana's thoughts stopped automatically when she saw that something had appeared in the dark cloud.

It was a light.

A light that grew bigger and bigger and opened the view of a scene.

Arthur gave a wince of pain. The pain shattered his face in a way Morgana had never seen on him before.

She leaned forward a bit more to recognize the scene that had appeared. The smile was now removed by a highly interested look on Morgana's face.

The scene showed two persons. As far as she could recognize from the cloudiness of that nightmare one was a woman and the other was a man.

Arthur squirmed with pain as the scene became clearer. Morgana ignored it. This was far too fascinating. Who was the man and who was the woman? And why should this be a nightmare? Morgana had expected something different, something evil and harsh and terrific. But this seemed actually very...harmonic.

Morgana was irritated, confused and taken back from what she wanted.  
>Even more as she recognized the woman.<p>

It was Gwen, her handmaiden, who was deeply in love with Arthur and who had been her friend once. But this was a long time ago.

At this time it was better for Morgana to stay as alone as possible. A lot of people probably had to die and she shouldn't feel a thing because it was needed to bring Uther down. Every price was worth this.

Morgana put her forehead in wrinkles. The man Gwen was staying with was definitely not Arthur. It was another knight.

With a mixed look Morgana noticed that the pain of Arthur still sharpened. She could almost feel the heat that was coming from him.

Now that is your worst nightmare? That Gwen loves someone else? Oh you are a silly little boy!

The irony of her words suddenly turned to anger. How could he? She had never realized that Gwen was that important to him. Why could he never do what she expected of him? The pain was still wielding through the air.

Morgana focused on the nightmare again. Maybe it was still helpful after all. If she could only identify the man Gwen was talking to.  
>She knew this knight, she was pretty certain she did, but from who?<p>

"Lancelot, I won't let you die for me." It whispered from somewhere in the cloud.

_Lancelot._ Now it was time to smirk. Sometimes the answers came as they should.

Gwen loved Lancelot. That was something that could be used!  
>She just had to find Lancelot and make Arthur discover a private moment between the two, probably a kiss or something.<br>Morgana's anger from before turned to a feeling near to happiness. After all the plan would still work.

"Guinevere..." Arthur suddenly whispered desperately and his voice was quickly erased by pain. Morgana looked down on him and tried to feel sorry. It didn't work.

"I would die a hundred times for you Guinevere...you have changed me forever." The male voice forced Morgana to focus on that nightmare again.

She sent Lancelot an irritated look. He would die for her? Morgana felt strange when hearing these words. She didn't quite understand him.

Then Lancelot turned to kiss Gwen and she kissed him back. It was a desperate kiss, one that is shared when you know it could be the last thing you do.

Then Lancelot went away. He was somewhere inside a castle. He took his sword and faced the knights who ran to him. All of them had swords. There hardly was a chance that Lancelot would survive this fight but nevertheless he stayed and he fought.

For Guinevere.

Morgana's eyes were wide open and watching quietly. From somewhere she heard the voice of Morgause:  
>Only use your magic for a short time... after you know what his nightmare is you should break the enchantment.<p>

But Morgana didn't feel like breaking it. Actually she didn't feel like anything at all right now. And there was no chance to move, only to breathe and to watch.

She saw how Guinevere ran away to escape and how Lancelot was still fighting until more and more knights appeared and his chance became thinner.

An undefined sound from somewhere came in between. Arthur was suffering from an unbearable amount of pain. If this dream would last any longer it could probably kill him.

Morgana looked at him as if he had never seen him before. Her eyes seemed far away, but the sound was like an awaking.

Morgana shook her head in an irritated way. She closed her eyes for a moment and opened them again. Then she broke the spell without a second thought. The pain coming from Arthur stopped right away. The sweat was still on his forehead but he was sleeping silent again and kind of...calm.

Morgana turned away from the bed. Her feet were leading her outside the chamber, other than that she did nothing, thought nothing.

The door closed behind her without a sound, at least she didn't hear one. She took a deep breath and looked around the dark frightening floor.

Somewhere before her eyes she saw a memory she thought had been lost. In the time when Morgana and Gwen had been captured and a glimpse of hope to escape appeared, Gwen was ready to sacrifice her life to save her lady.  
>At that time Morgana had been sure that she would have done the same for her handmaiden.<p>

Life entered Morgana again as she took her way down the floor. She walked steady and determined. Bitterness was the shadow that followed her steps.

Now she wasn't that sure at all.


End file.
